The present invention relates to a leaktight confinement appliance, intended to cooperate with at least one independent receptacle containing a substance, having its own means for transfer into and/or out of the receptacle, and with at least one independent means for delivery of a material.
By way of example, the present invention will be introduced and described with reference to the pharmaceutical sector in which it is necessary to connect various receptacles, such as a syringe and a flask, so as to prepare on the spot a medicament, which is then immediately administered to the patient. In this regard, reference will be made in particular to the preparation of a medication solution obtained by dissolving or suspending an active principle in the form of a powder or lyophilisate, subsequently administered in the form of an infusion.
To this end, a leaktight confinement appliance has already been described, in accordance with DE-4 314 090, consisting of a handling chamber, defined by a wall of flexible material, which is substantially leaktight with respect to the external environment.
Arranged inside this chamber there are, respectively:
an independent receptacle containing a liquid or solid substance, having its own means for transfer into and/or out of the receptacle;
another independent receptacle, of the syringe type, containing another substance, for example liquid, likewise having its own means for transfer into and/or out of the other receptacle;
and an independent means for delivery, of the catheter type, for administering to a patient the medication solution which has been obtained by mixing the contents of the two receptacles.
With this appliance, the user connects, first inside the handling chamber, the transfer means of the two receptacles, respectively, so as to bring them into communication, then connects the receptacle, of the syringe type, to the delivery means, of the catheter type.
A disadvantage of the solution described above is that it necessitates packing or overpacking the two receptacles and the delivery means in a single leaktight package. Now, in practice, each one of these different components is often available from different sources or manufacturers so that the solution proposed above does not cover all the cases encountered in practice for administration of a medicament, for example.
The subject of the present invention is therefore a confinement appliance which is compatible with components (receptacles, for example) from different sources, without first having recourse to overpacking the components.
According to the present invention, the confinement appliance additionally comprises:
a means for leaktight assembly between the handling chamber and the transfer means of the receptacle, in a position of the latter remaining essentially outside the handling chamber, this means occupying a passage through the wall of the handling chamber, and being secured in a leaktight manner on the wall;
and a means for leaktight connection between the handling chamber and the delivery means, in a position in which the latter includes a part outside the chamber, this leaktight connection means occupying another passage through the wall of the handling chamber, and being secured in a leaktight manner on this wall.